Narrowband tunable filter based on velocity-selective optical pumping in an atomic vapor

摘要

We demonstrate a tunable, narrow-band filter based on optical-pumping-inducedcircular dichroism in rubidium vapor. The filter achieves a peak transmissionof 14.6%, a linewidth of 80 MHz, and an out-of-band extinction >35 dB. Thetransmission peak can be tuned within the range of the Doppler linewidth of theD1 line of atomic rubidium at 795 nm. While other atomic filters work atfrequencies far from absorption, the presented technique provides lightresonant with atomic media, useful for atom-photon interaction experiments. Thetechnique could readily be extended to other alkali atoms.